Sailing La Vagabonde

G'day from all of us & our Patrons in Menorca!

So unbelievably happy to have our crew of patrons join us here in Menorca for a week of sailing and activities 🌞 🗺. Some people have flown 22 hours just to see us... I don't know what we did to deserve such lovely humans like you guys surrounding us. Legends. Looking forward to the week ahead. Stay tuned for more meet ups, we really want to meet as many of you as we can. A big hello and cheers from all of us this fine Wednesday!

A Race in the Rain to pick up our Lucky Patrons [Ep. 108]

Riley always talks about how the only thing that should be dictating your sailing plans, are the weather and repairs. When you have a schedule to keep, more often that not, things just don’t like to run smoothly. We would have loved to hang out in Bonifacio and wait for the rain to stop, probably rug up inside and watch a few movies. But no, join us for soggy clothes and wet hair on our way down to Sardinia. However, we’re extremely excited to meet James and Destiny and to show them what it�...

Knock knock.. who’s there? Bonifacio. [Ep. 107]

We sail the south western coast of Corsica to two really, really funny places. Ajaccio and Bonifacio. Ahhhh you’ve gotta love those days where things go right and you’re nothing but smiles and knock knock jokes. We have loved just about everything about exploring this coastline, from the history and people to the aqua blue water and interestingly texturised cliff walls. SAILING THE MEDITERRANEAN IS PURE BLISS.

Thanks for making these videos possible! Made with love xo

We're safe

Hey guys Riley here. We are safe and sound in Sardinia again. Some of you were quite concerned about our safety whilst in Tunisia but we are totally fine.

ps. we are going to do a live video on youtube tomorrow and I was wondering if you had any questions for me?

pps. I'm not sure if the photo uploaded but that is unrelated and just us going fast! Hahaha.

Are you available from September 26 - October 2?

**EDIT** Wow! That was quick. Thanks everyone! We are now full for positions.

Hey there guys!  There were a few patrons who have been late withdraws from attending our meet up so we figured we would open it up to a few extra people that may be able to attend at late notice.

The winner will be the FIRST TWO people to comment below, you are welcome to bring a plus one, we will email you privately for more information.  Good luck!!

Just to give you an idea of our plans, whi...

In Search of Fish, and a Cheap Mooring for the Night [Ep. 106]

There has been a lot of fish hunting lately here in the Med. Unfortunately, it has almost always ended with an empty handed, disappointed Riles swimming back to the boat. There is an alarming amount of over fishing going on here in the Mediterranean Sea. 97% of the fish stocks that are assessed are overfished and/or not sustainable (these are only the fish that are actually assessed!! Excluding a number of other marine species which, for all we know could be in even more trouble). We’ve lea...

SCARED FOR MY LIFE! Sailing at 22 knots boat speed down HUGE waves [Ep. 105]

Yep, La Vagabonde reached 22.7 knots boat speed. We couldn’t believe it. With a max of 28 knots wind behind us from about 120 degrees, we surfed down one wave and then caught the next one in front of that. Before we knew it we were all looking at a 22.7 on the nav gear. I had a close eye on the bows making sure they weren't going to bury, they looked like they might but Riley "promised" me that it was normal and fine!! Matthieu says we could have got 25 knots so looks like Riley will be aiming...

Discovering Underwater Caves of France! [Ep. 104]

Join us as we sail along the east coast of France, and discover a hidden underwater cave along the way. The colour of the delicious blue water in contrast with the red rocks was quite a nice sight to see. What a way to start the morning! We visit two magical anchorages, Calanque De Sormiou and Île de Porquerolles. Both of which are to die for. Heck yes France! 

Thanks so much for supporting our videos! Hope you enjoy as much as we do bringing them to you.

Elayna xo

When your boyfriend wants to sail fast [Ep. 103]

Wooohooo. We’re free to leave the port and sail the rest of Europe! We reached 16.7 knots boat speed on our way over towards Marseille. The boy just wants to sail fast, all the time. But it’s cool. I don’t mind a bit of fresh air knotting my hair and windburn lips, no I don’t care. Yippeeeee let’s go and explore the rest of the Mediterranean. Stay tuned… 

Thank you for supporting our videos! Made with love xo

La Vaga’s Home for Repairs. Shakedown Cruise COMPLETE [Ep. 102]

We’re back in the south of France for a few touch ups on La Vagabonde after our shakedown cruise. Only some minor alterations to be made. Overall, we couldn't be happier with how she's performed!

Videos made with love,

Elayna xo

I Crashed our Boat in the Marina, Way to Make an Entrance! [Ep. 101]

It was all hands on deck as I attempted docking La Vagabonde for the second time ever, in a marina with a cross wind. We sailed back up to the land of Croissants (France) after completing our shake down cruise around the western Mediterranean! It’s good to be home (well La Vagabondes home).

Hope you enjoy the episode. Next week we'll show some of the repairs being done and then we have some exciting adventures planned with French coast on our way towards Italy.

Elayna xo

Calm Before the Storm [Ep. 100]

Ever heard of the Tramontane Winds that howl from France? We head north up the coast of Spain, right before the fierce blow hits. The whole sky turned grey and there wasn’t a breath of wind. It was quite eerie. Taking shelter in a place called Port De Cadaques, we had no idea it was going to be so damn beautiful. Good call Matthieu!

Thanks for watching everyone and thank you for supporting our videos! Who would have thought we would be publishing our 100th episode after that first video publ...

Grotty Yachties and their Stories [Ep. 99]

The sailing community, my favourite kind of community. You’re always guaranteed a helping hand from your neighbour and a good story (most of the time accompanied by wine). We help Oaky fix his new boat and meet a few legends from SV Juno who have a few dramas of their own. I hope you guys get back out on the water again real soon! Join us in Badalona - Spain. 

Thank you Patrons! ! Speak soon! Do you enjoy the live videos?

Elay xoxo

La Vagabonde LIVE over coffee

Coming hot at ya, beans and all. 

LIVE YouTube Video on Saturday (Patreon Only)

Hey everyone!

After two attempts at LIVE YouTube videos, we think we will get it right this time round and it will be reserved for patrons only.

If you're available, we'd love to say hello. If you have any questions you would like us to cover, send them through and we'll have them in front of us before we start.

Sorry to our southern hemisphere friends, this timezone might not suit you but don't worry, we'll organise another one soon.

We'll send you the link for the broadcast...

Groovin’ up the Coast of Mallorca [Ep. 98]

We sail up the east coast of Mallorca, jumping off the boat for a free dive in the most delicious, thirst quenching blue water you’ll ever see. We plan to sail over to Badelona, not Barcelona, to meet up with a few friends on the water. We may have had less than 2 knots of wind on our trip over to Spain, but mother nature made up for it with the silkiest sunset and pure blissfulness…

Let us know what you think of the new intro, dedicated to you all. Thanks again everyone! You're the best!<...

Ejected from Sailors Paradise.. No Bueno! [Ep. 97]

There’s nothing worse than sailing all day to make it to a sailors paradise, only to be told we had to leave. I’m usually pretty good at translating spanish food menus, road signs etc but the National Park forms were another level. Sorry team. Punta De Cala Pi was pretty damn nice though, right?…

What did you think of our intro in this episode? Was it funny? We had fun making it. We have actually been working on a new intro for you guys, our patrons, which will be coming for new episodes...

We're going LIVE on YouTube (Public)

Hey everyone!

We're planning to go live @10am French / Italian time. We've put up a photo above on the time zones in different countries which we got from here:
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meetingtime.html?iso=20170721&p1=5&p2=195&p3=179&p4=137

We're going to try public this time but we would love to prioritis...

LIVE EVENT 10am in Italy 21st July on YouTube!!!

We are going to go again!!! Once again apologies for the last one.

At 10:00 am Italian time. Would love to answer more of your questions and hopefully hoist the main and set sail for you.

YouTube.

The Things that went Wrong [Ep. 96]

Remember how I said “nothing bad has happened yet”?. Well, we had a streak of bad luck. In the scheme of things I guess it was really nothing too hectic, but still a lot to happen over 24 hours. To brighten things up we interview Rich and Trish sailing in their 37ft sloop they renovated themselves! What legends. Thanks for the stories guys. Read Trish’s blog here! https://ongwen.wordpress.com/category/gwen/...

Live La Vagabonde Update!

Hey team, you'll be pleased to know we have hunted down the best internet option for us to have onboard, it's a SIM card that works almost anywhere within the EU (European Union)! Mental hey! So when it arrives in the mail we SHOULD be able to do live streaming from the boat, but we will see how it goes when we receive it... I'm hesitant to make promises. We will keep you posted as this is high on our priorities list. We just want to chat with you guys in the comfort of our home, not in noisy ca...

We got Chased by Massive Tuna! [Ep. 95]

It started with a splash, and then we noticed these shadows that were chasing La Vaga.. a quick head dunk under the water revealed they were massive Tuna! Join us in beautiful Mallorca - Spain as we continue to sail this pristine coastline. 

Thank you for supporting this production. We hope you enjoy :)

Elay xo

Anchoring at the Island of Dragons! [Ep. 94]

We dropped the anchor in turquoise water, at an uninhabited island completely covered with lizards!  These little things liked to nibble at your fingertips, our patrons Will & Marrissa got a free sample of it.

Although they were small and almost nearly cute, I was pretty scared. I think their extreme confidence and gutsy attitude is what gave the island it’s name. Visitors beware! It’s Isla De Sa Dragonera!

Thank you for your support guys & gals! I hope you enjoy this ep...

Jelly Fish Attack! Free Diving the Balearic Islands [Ep. 93]

We spent the morning free diving near the lighthouse, and BAM! a jelly fish had attacked me. In broad daylight.  

However, the jelly was probably nothing but graceful as it wrapped around my wrist. Just minding it’s own business as we spent the morning frolicking in the depths of it’s backyard. ‘Attack’ or not, it hurt. A lot. That’ll teach me to wear a short suit. Join us, Daniel and our two patrons Will and Marissa as we explore this beautiful east coastline of Mallorca. We lo...

Wow so sorry for the LIVE fail!

We really loved chatting to you guys, we will give it another go with better connection real soon.
We will save the rest of the questions for then but will also take new ones next time.

Love you guys 😊 thanks for your time and sorry again.

Elayna and Riley.

La Vagabonde LIVE!! Join in guys.

LIVE YouTube Video tomorrow! (Patrons only)

Bonjour, Howdy, Hello, G'day!

Hope everyone is well on this fine Wednesday, the 21st of June, 2017 (except for those down under who are probably asleep)

We have never done a LIVE video before but we really want to give it a try. If it works well for everyone, we might be able to see if we can do it more regularly so we can keep everyone updated on what's happening. Similar to the Q&A we did at our Big Splash in March. We had a great time!

We really just want to show our appre...

Our Floating Home in Mallorca [Ep. 92]

We’d completed our first sail in La Vagabonde, about 230nm from La Grande Motte to the Balearic Islands - Spain! The last time we were in Mallorca was in 2014, when we arrived with a broken rudder. We spent weeks working with Gregor (do you guys remember this legend from early on in the videos?) and his mate who was a welder, but also had claustrophobia so he couldn’t actually come down below to do all the measurements himself… so instead he stood outside while Riley climbed into the da...

The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives! Ep. 91

It was a long time waiting, but we’re finally free! We're excited to give you exclusive rights to be the first to see it before we air it publicly next week!! Off we go for the shakedown cruise in our catamaran. The world is once again our oyster. Join us for a new adventure, as we take on Europe for the summer and when beanies and jumper weather comes around again, we will be heading out the Gibraltar Strait to: we have no idea yet.

Thank you for supporting our production. We feel like...

Our Final Adventure in Queensland Ep. 90

Hey guys / gals!

It was our last sail on Encore before we fly back to France and pick up our Catamaran to finally go exploring in it. We left beautiful Mays Bay and head back to the mainland, to jump in a helicopter and see the places we had just sailed to from above. The Great Barrier Reef is pretty stunning. We hope you enjoyed our tour. What a trip! Hopefully we will see this place again when we reach the Pacific Ocean someday soon in La Vagabonde. Cheers Queensland!

We cannot...